Sunday, 19 January 2014

Syme of the Tymes

150 Symes Road is by design in an out-of-the-way place. It was purpose built to handle solid waste for the City of Toronto, Canada starting in the 1930s. No one would want to be anywhere near the joint during its 70-odd years of operation. But now that the operation has been decommissioned a new perspective appears...

I think what's most important is to admire its beautiful clean lines as an early 20th Century Deco building. Since it's built during the early 1930s it is Art Deco to period, with Art Moderne elements. But, as executed, its own architectural flourishes are by definition Streamline Moderne. The entire second story of speed-line highlight brick and round porthole windows places an ocean liner's bridge structure on a waste handling facility.

... Fortunately, a Muni agency called "Build Toronto" has munificent powers that will let it, above all other realtors, somehow cleanse the property of taggers, ravers, squatters and its brownsfield landfill to provide a heritage building in pristine state to any interested parties.

Hipsters too have embraced the space with both hands, as a breathless report in "The Grid" shows.

And naturally, those west-end busybodies at "The Junctioneer" provide a snapshot of the project status as of June, 2013.